


“Three...two...one...”

by Miss__Red



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Characters playing Dead By Daylight (Video Game), Chocolate, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, FRIDAY (AI) - Freeform, First Kiss, Flirting, Flowers, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Identity Reveal, Irondad, Karen (AI), M/M, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, New Year's Eve, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Party, Tired Peter Parker, Valentine's Day, Weapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss__Red/pseuds/Miss__Red
Summary: At Tony Stark's traditional New Year's Eve party, Peter Parker stumbles across his most hated person: Deadpool aka Wade WilsonUnder the influence of alcohol, the evening takes an unexpected turn...---So, basically the idea is to upload a chapter every month and join Peter and Wade on their journey over one year... we'll see how it turns out ...
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Spider-Man/Deadpool
Comments: 14
Kudos: 59





	1. December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV Peter

“Come on, Pete, hurry up!” called MJ impatiently from the living room.

Peter grimaced towards his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He dragged his hand one last time through his brown hair and then set off to join Ned and MJ in the other room.

His best friend Ned was currently occupied with downing the rest of his drink while MJ searched in the pile of clothes on the couch for a specific leather jacket she wanted to wear.

It was the 31th of December and even though Peter wasn’t really one to go out and party, when Tony Stark AKA Iron Man personally invites you to his traditional New Year’s Eve party, you don’t say no.

At least he was allowed to bring his friends, too. Sure, he had met the Avengers on several occasions before, but it was still kinda weird to be around them. So the thought of having people his age to hang out with was reassuring.

He gathered that the party wasn’t an exclusive thing, as a whole bunch of other people would be there, too. Besides the Avengers - _duh_ \- Tony had mentioned people from other places would be there as well. Some worked at Stark Industries, some were personal friends or associated with the Avengers (like Ned and MJ). Meanwhile some people were just too important to not invite them.

And as official intern at Stark Industries, Peter had an absolute legit reason to get an invitation without having to reveal his secret identity.

By now, Ned and MJ had found out about the whole Spider-Man thing, as well as Aunt May. It was weird to get used to them knowing, that there was no need to hide from them after he had done so for so long.

But now they knew and a part of Peter was glad they did, because after Mr Stark offered him the “Stark Internship” and got him to team up with the freaking Avengers, his life got so crazy, it was good to have someone to talk about it with, that wasn’t the AI in his suit.

And after almost 9 months he, Peter Parker, an awkward nerd of age 21, got a rare invitation for Tony Stark’s famous New Year’s Eve party. When he first told his friends about it, MJ just stared at him and Ned laughed in disbelief.

“Haha, yeah, of course.”

But when they finally believed him and got over the first wave of nervousness, the excitement from both of them was enough to make Peter looking forward to the party.

So, for the last couple of hours the three of them had been busy putting together outfits and pregame in Ned’s flat, since he had the most space.

Peter could already feel the light buzzing of the alcohol hitting his nerves and they hadn’t even left yet.

Ned set down his glass, burped and looked at his friends.

“You good to go?”

“Yup,” replied MJ, triumphantly pulling her jacket out of the pile.

Peter just nodded for an answer and picked up his wallet and phone from the coffee table. He hoped he could excuse himself after midnight, be at home by one and perhaps go out patrolling as Spider-Man for two or three hours, depending on how tired he was.

“Okay, then let’s goooo!” Ned grinned and basically dragged Peter out behind him into the hallway, leaving it to MJ to pull the door shut before the three friends headed down the stairs and made their way in direction of Stark Tower.

***

After roughly a 20 minute walk, they finally reached the building and Peter lead them through the glass entry doors, showing the security guard his badge and then through the entrance hall to the elevators, where already a handful people in party outfits stood and waited. The women wore tight, sparkling dresses and the men white dress shirts and golden cuffs links.

The whole ride up Peter wondered if they were underdressed but then the elevator slowed down and finally stopped at the 27th floor and when the doors opened his worries vanished.

The room -which was basically half the floor- was absolutely packed with people in different outfits. It had the entire spectrum from casual jeans to an actual ball gown, black suit and tie to... red suit?

Peter groaned internally. There was still a chance he wouldn’t notice him, the opened spaced room was full of people after all and the dimmed down lights made it harder to see -at least for everyone who didn’t have enhanced senses.

Peter grabbed Ned and MJ at the arms and tried to make his way to the other side of the room without attracting his attention but just as they were half across the way to the buffet-

“Oh wow, did you just come out of the oven, because you’re hot.” A man, clad from head to toe into a red and black leather suit, including a mask, appeared out of thin air in front of them and was now talking to Peter, who looked like he would rather be anywhere than here.

“Get lost Deadpool,” he said through gritted teeth. Why was that guy even here? He had hoped he wouldn’t be invited, that Stark would rightfully decide he’s too much trouble to let him in a room with all those important people.

Ned snorted into the champagne glass he got handed from one of the waiters and MJ cast Peter a look that said something along the line “What the hell, do you know that dude?”

“So, you know who I am.” Deadpool looked satisfied. “But that puts you in an unfair advantage since I don’t know who you are...” Even through his mask he managed to express anticipation.

Peter was just about to open his mouth and remind Deadpool that he already knew him, when he remembered he was here as Peter Parker and not Spider-Man. He never showed Deadpool his face, nor told him his name, so he had no idea who he was.

Of course Tony Stark had to pick that moment to came up to the group and squeeze Peter’s shoulder lightly as a greeting before turning to the mercenary.

“Wade, I see, you already met one of my best interns, Peter Parker. Peter, I assume you know Wade Wilson?”

Peter nodded with his lips pressed together; he would’ve preferred to keep the information about him to a minimum in front of Deadpool. But interrupting Mr Stark would’ve not just been disrespectful but also lightly suspicious, so he just looked around for one of those trays with champagne glasses. If he had to spend the evening in the company of Wade Wilson, he needed alcohol.

A whole lot of it.

***

After introducing Ned and MJ to some of the Avengers (MJ and Natasha instantly started talking about the Black Dahlia murders, and Ned found a new friend in Bruce Banner, which whom he geeked over science), Peter wandered off in direction of the restrooms, sipping on a Vodka Cranberry. He had switched to something stronger after two glasses of champagne and was currently on his fourth (or fifth? He had lost count) drink.

Peter was on the best way to getting drunk, even with his high metabolism. As long as he kept the alcohol coming, he could get smashed for perhaps an hour or two. And since it was hard to find something here that wasn’t alcoholic, that shouldn’t be an issue.

The drink in his left hand, the right one buried in his pocket, Peter entered a small hallway that was leading to the toilets, when all of a sudden he tripped over something. He used his fingertips to keep his alcoholic drink from falling - thank you, Van de Waals force!

Hastily, he looked around the hallway. It was less crowded and even darker here, only a few people were heading in direction of the main space he had just left. Peter straightened back up and just continued walking, hoping no one saw his little stunt.

“OMG, you’re Spidey!” squealed a voice behind him.

Peter froze in his movements. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths before he turned around on his heels.

“I swear to god, if you ever tell this to anyone, I _will_ find a way to kill you permanently.” His voice sounded surprisingly calm.

“What makes you think I’d ever do that to you? Is your trust in me so low?” Deadpool grabbed his chest like he’s been shot there.

“I have literally zero trust in you, Deadpool,” Peter answered matter-of-factly.

The other man slowly made his way toward the younger boy, Peter still rooted to the spot. Due to the lack of something to do, he took a big sip of his drink and avoided looking at Deadpool.

“Where are your friends?” the Merc asked, his voice had dropped lower now. Under other circumstances that voice in combination with those words would’ve sound threatening but right now, they sent chills down Peter’s spine and he had to suppress a shiver.

“Uhm, engaged in conversation?” It came out rather a question than a statement.

Deadpool came another step closer.

Peter was suddenly very aware of the fact that they were currently alone in the dark hallway. Technically, he was stronger than Deadpool, but at the moment, his knees felt like jam and it cost all his concentration to not drop the glass he was still holding.

Another step closer. They were so close now, Peter could feel the body heat radiating off Deadpool.

A thought crept up from the depths of his mind, “Has Deadpool always been this muscular?”

Sure, Peter had some muscles himself from all the swinging and lifting buses and all the other Spider-Man stuff, but he was on the lithe side.

Which he was glad for, because that way his form could easier be hidden under wide hoodies and jeans to avoid questions about why the nerdy “Puny Parker” suddenly got muscles.

His mouth suddenly felt very dry and he took another sip of his Vodka-Cranberry, which was rather counterproductive in that matter. Peter didn’t care.

He felt as though the tension building up between them was thick enough to cut with a pair of scissors.

And then, from one second to the other, Deadpool pulled back and became his goofy and cheeky self again.

“Well, I reckon you were off to do some things for little spiders, so I don’t wanna keep you. But just so you know, I’m still free for Midnight’s Kiss, if you’re interested...” Deadpool gave a little twirl, which should’ve looked absolutely silly, given that he was full ass grown up man in a red and black leather suit.

But somehow Peter couldn’t fight a little smile and with a last wink (How the hell did he get his mask to be that expressive?!) the merc walked down the hallway and vanished around a corner.

For a couple moments Peter didn’t move, trying to figure out if the last few minutes actually had happened or if he was way more smashed than he had anticipated.

“Get it together, Parker,” he murmured to himself and shook his head to clear his mind, before he set off to the bathroom.

***

There was a little more than 30 minutes left until midnight and hardly a person that wasn’t at least halfway drunk.

On his way back Peter had stumbled across Captain America and the Winter Soldier, kissing heavily in a dark corner and he grinned while passing them.

It was an open secret that even 70 years in ice didn’t make Steve’s crush on Bucky disappear and it was only a matter of time until they finally committed to their feelings. If Peter wasn’t wrong, there was even a bet running between Tony, Clint and Natasha whether or not they would make it official before the year ended and he wondered if making out on a party counted as “making it official”.

A few meters further, Thor had pulled out some of the Asgardian met and was having what looked like a drinking contest with Sam Wilson and Scott Lang, cheered on by Wanda Maximoff, the Wasp (Peter hadn’t been introduced to her yet, but he believed her name was Hope), Natasha, MJ and Ned.

As soon as Peter spotted his friends, he made a beeline for the couch they were sitting on.

The music was blasting so loud, he had to bend down and talk centimetres away from Ned’s ear so he could understand him.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

His best friend turned his head and when he recognised Peter a big smile appeared on his face.

“Hey mate, where’ve you been?” And without waiting for an answer he continued, “We had an absolute gorgeous time, Banner knows so much about Biotechnology -it’s amazing and Falcon is really funny, he made a joke earlier about a priest but I can’t remember it …and did you know Captain freaking America and the Winter Soldier are have a thing?”

“Yeah, I saw them on my way back from the bathroom.”

MJ had noticed him as well now and leaned over.

“Pete, there you are, I was starting to get worried about you.” She had to shout so Peter could hear her, even though he was right next to her.

“Hm, sure you were,” Peter grinned and looked over to a cute blonde girl sitting next to her.

MJ blushed a little and but smiled excitedly.

“That’s Max, she’s also an intern at Stark Industries and she’s amazing. If I’m lucky, I’ll get my New Year’s kiss, but I’m pretty confident about that.”

Peter said nothing and just smiled back. He was really happy for MJ; she was the most terrific girl he knew and definitely deserved someone who appreciated her for how wonderful she was.

When he straightened back up and looked around the room Peter noticed two things.

First: he was definitely drunk by now.

Second: Deadpool was staring at him from where he stood at the large window front, waving his fingers when he saw that Peter was observing him.

The boy averted his look as fast as possible and took a steadying breath. What was going on with him today.

He hated Deadpool. A quick glance at his phone told him he had 17 more minutes to go, before he could start making up an excuse and leave.

MJ was obviously occupied and Ned loved parties anyway and had no problem with being at his own.

Peter trusted both his friends, that they were mature enough to keep themselves entertained and they could still always leave if they had enough.

He was interrupted in his thoughts when someone seized his arm and dragged him to the dance floor.

Peter’s complaints were ignored by Ned who just yelled in his ear “Shut up and dance with me!” along to the song lyrics and started dancing.

For a while they made it a competition of who could come up with the silliest moves and when the song ended they both were clutching their sides, not even able to fully laugh anymore and just wheezing.

Yep, Peter was definitely drunk.

They kept dancing for a while, soon joined by MJ and Max, enjoying the atmosphere and Peter thought that he was actually kinda glad he came. With all the normal Uni stress and his nightly activities, it was nice to just let go for once and have fun.

“Good evening, ladies and Gentlemen and everyone in between!” Tony Stark’s voice suddenly came through the speakers and the music turned down a bit, while the guests turned to the little stage the billionaire was standing on, holding a microphone in one and a glass of Champagne in the other hand.

“It is my pleasure to have you all here to celebrate this New Year’s Eve with us.” He pointed to the rest of the Avengers, standing next to the stage, waving rather awkwardly.

The crowd clapped and cheered, someone let out a whistle.

“I hope everyone is enjoying themselves so far and since we’re 10 minutes close to midnight, I would ask those of you who want to watch the fireworks, to join me and my amazing fiancée,” here he turned to Pepper and bowed towards her, “on the balcony outside to welcome the new year!”

There was rumbling, while the majority of people headed through the glass doors outside, grabbing Champagne glasses and looking for their friends.

Peter stayed a little behind the crowd, his desire to be surrounded by a bunch of drunk people wasn’t that high. He decided to just lean against a pillar near the balcony doors, with a good look outside.

“Not a fan of the fireworks?” someone asked besides him. Due to the music being turned down, they could actually talk on a somewhat normal level.

Without turning his head, Peter answered, “No, just not a fan of crowds. I’m surprised you’re not right in the middle, Deadpool.”

“Nah, why should I when my New Year’s kiss is standing right next to me?”

Peter scoffed and took a sip from his drink, that he couldn’t even remember where he got it from.

But it didn’t really matter anyway.

Together they watched the people out on the balcony getting in line, looking expectantly up in the sky, when everyone started counting.

“Ten, nine, eight...”

“Seven, six, five, four...” muttered Peter.

“Three...two...one...” whispered a voice in his year.

In hindsight, Peter had no clue why he did what he did.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, perhaps it was the general atmosphere. But when the crowd outside shouted “Happy New Year!” Peter turned around, grabbed Deadpool’s face and pulled the mercenary he hated since the first time they met and avoided where he could, the most annoying human being in the world, the last person he actually wanted to kiss, not to mention touch, in for a kiss.


	2. January

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened after the kiss and the following day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV Peter

Fireworks were exploding outside and painted the sky red, white, and green when they parted, mouths still only centimetres away as they both panted. Peter’s hands were still cradling Wade’s face, half covered by his mask, which was only pushed up on his nose to allow him to drink and eat.

And kiss.

Peter felt like time froze.

Well, no, not exactly. It felt like time moved on in the same speed for everyone around them and they were in a small bubble where time had slowed down. Maybe time didn’t matter in first place. Right now, Peter Parker was way too busy with other things to think about stuff like that, for example _what the hell was he thinking?!_

The realisation what he had just done hit him and Peter took a huge step back, suddenly well aware of his surroundings. All his senses came back at once and rolled over him; the noise of the fireworks, people chatting, the smell of alcohol and the leather of Wade’s suit — why was it so hot suddenly?

With his eyes wide open, Peter searched for someone who might’ve seen them, witnessed something that was so… unusual and embarrassing for him. Peter wasn’t someone to go around and just kiss people. Especially people he actually disliked with his whole heart.

Thankfully everyone was either too busy with the firework outside or too drunk to notice the things around them anyway. Peter turned his back to Wade, who was still standing in the same spot, his head slightly tilted and seemed to listen to someone or something. The boy couldn’t care less about Deadpool at the moment.

He took a few deep breaths and tried to tune out the noise around him, which was difficult enough as it was a New Year’s Eve party -even without having super hearing.

But he managed it and after the short moment of pure panic ( _What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?_ ) and self-loathing ( _I kissed Deadpool how could I?!)_ his logical brain finally took over again and he decided he needed to get out of here as soon as possible. Satisfied with himself that he was able to function again, Peter turned back to Deadpool again, ready to make up an excuse for leaving just to find that the mercenary was already gone.

The boy just shrugged his shoulders; it wasn’t his responsibility to run after Deadpool and make sure he was okay.

Deep-down Peter had to admit he was relieved for not having to put up with that right now and instead focus on the task before him: finding his friends, saying his goodbyes to them and Mr Stark. Then going home in his bed and trying to forget what happened during the last couple minutes.

Finding MJ and Ned turned out to be more difficult than it sounded, and he was just contemplating to just climb up the wall to see over the crowd (which came back in once the fireworks outside were over), when after almost 20 minutes he finally spotted the familiar redhead in front of him. On his way to reach MJ he didn’t really pay attention to the other people, apologising constantly as he squeezed through a group of people and finally reaching his friend.

“MJ, hey, MJ!” Peter shouted, trying to be heard over the music, that was turned up again.

MJ looked around confused before seeing Peter and meeting him half-way with Max in tow. They both looked flushed and Peter was pretty sure that they had not only shared a New Year’s Kiss, but they won’t be going home alone.

“Hey Pete, happy New Year!” MJ dragged him in for a hug, which Peter answered half-heartedly. Once they separated again, the girl grinned and asked, “So, what’s up?"

“I think I’m gonna call it a night. I’m really tired and I wanna … go out for a bit,” Peter said with a glance to Max, who stood next to them, basically glowing with excitement.

The last part was only half a lie, he was really thinking about going for a quick patrol. Perhaps it would help clear his head a bit and Mr Stark had a spare suit in his lab he could use, so wouldn’t even have to head home first.

Critically, MJ observed him and frowned. She looked worried but asked no further questions and instead wished him a good night. Peter forced a smile on his face and told her to let Ned know he left and that he would send him a text later. For a second he felt a slight sting of guilt for not wishing his mate a happy New Year in person, but then again, they knew each other for so long now, the friendship definitely won't break because of that.

Peter waved goodbye at Max and made his way across through the room and the mass of people again to reach a small side door, locked with a keypad. He typed in his code and the door clicked to give way to a private staircase which allowed him to avoid all the people and reaching the seventeenth floor in record time.

Another code entry and an eye scan later and he was in a dim lit corridor lined with the different labs. The one he and Mr Stark usually worked in was at the end and Peter enjoyed the silence, only disrupted by his footsteps on the linoleum.

He reached the lab, entered his code and when the glass doors hissed open Peter was surprised to find Mr Stark there, sitting on a desk and tinkering with something Peter couldn’t identify. When he heard the lab doors, the billionaire looked up and looked as surprised as Peter felt, but then he smiled at the younger boy. AC/DC was quietly playing over the ceiling speakers and only a few lights were turned on, so the atmosphere was quite…comfortable.

“Avoiding the crowds, too?” the older man asked and set the piece of tech he was working on down, pulling up a hologram with information instead.

Peter smiled a little (for real this time) and walked over to a cabinet, where he had stored the suit.

“Yeah, kinda, but I have the advantage that I can just leave entirely,” he answered and pulled the locker door open.

His mentor turned his stool around, watching him searching for the suit, but didn’t say anything until Peter found what he’d looked for and closed the cabin door again. Originally, he had planned to just change in the lab, but now he would just go to the bathroom instead. Mr Stark stayed silent and Peter dragged his hand through his hair, just wondering if he should say something, when the cool voice of FRIDAY broke the silence.

**Mrs Potts is searching for you, Mr Stark. Should I let her know you are here?**

By now Peter was used to the AI, but the first couple times when FRIDAY suddenly spoke up had him on the ceiling.

Literally.

Mr Stark sighed and stood up, stretching his back.

“No need to, I’ll go back up myself. Make sure you swing responsibly, I don’t wanna send an Iron Suit to rescue you because you drank and swung,” The last part was directed at Peter. It had been a one time thing but Mr Stark never let him forget it. The man snatched his jacket from a table and walked towards the doors.

He stopped in his movements as though he was having an afterthought and spoke over his shoulder, “Next week I wanna work on a suit update, so no other projects, okay?” and then exited the lab, leaving Peter alonen the middle of the lab with the suit still in his one hand.

_Back in Black_ was still playing in the background. Peter hummed along with the song while getting rid of his clothes and putting on the Spider-Man suit instead. For a moment he thought about taking the clothes with him, but then he decided to just let them there. He folded his jeans and shirt, put them in the cabinet and closed it. His phone and wallet were stowed away on his suit. He needed those.

He donned his mask and then, looked around for something he might’ve forgotten. His eyes fell on the drawer with web fluid. Better safe than sorry.

“Hey FRIDAY, turn off the lights and the music, will you?” he asked the AI, before leaving the lab, hearing the doors close with a hiss. Peter made his way down the corridor again and just opened a window in the staircase, not bothering to leave trough the entry doors and crawled a bit up the wall, to close the window behind him again. He pulled his mask all the way down and greeted Karen, his own AI that Mr Stark installed in his suit.

**Good evening Peter, happy New Year!**

“Thanks, happy New Year to you, too,” Peter chuckled, but not really surprised. It was an AI created by Tony Stark after all. Of course, Karen wouldn’t let an event like New Year’s uncommented.

**Do you want me to show you the places with the highest risk of crime tonight?**

“No thanks, not yet. I’ll let you know.” First, he had some serious thinking to do before he could get to that.

A quick glance around, one last check of his web shooters and a second later he was launching himself into the air.

Peter let out an excited laugh, twisted and turned mid-air and for a few minutes just enjoyed the freedom he had.

Even though he was Spider-Man for a couple years now, the feeling of just swinging through the city never failed to amaze him. After one last somersault, he landed on the roof of a skyscraper. Peter crouched down and took his mask off. His gaze wandered over the view in front of him. The city he grew up in, that he loved and had made an oath to himself to always protect to the best of his abilities.

By now, his enhanced metabolism had already started to take care of the alcohol in his blood but there was still enough left to make his head feel lightly dizzy.

Peter let out a sigh and sat down on the edge, letting his legs tangle forty-something stories above the pavement below him. The thoughts he had tried so desperately to suppress slowly started to float back to the surface of his consciousness without the distraction of having to shoot webs or people around him to talk to.

With another sigh he let his head sink into his hands. What the actual fuck was he thinking, kissing _Deadpool_ after all people?!

Sure, he could blame it on the alcohol. The heated atmosphere of the party. The attractiveness of Deadpool in his red and black leather sui- wait, what?

Peter jolted upright, his hands falling in his lap. “Attractiveness” and “Deadpool” were two words that didn’t belong in the same sentence together. What happened to “annoying”, “pain in the ass” and “killing-people-for money” Deadpool?

“Oh nooo,” Peter groaned, burying his face once again in his hands. This could NOT be happening to him.

Absolutely not.

Never ever in a million lifetimes.

Sure, he had discovered that he was bisexual when he was in High School, but he had never really told anyone about it, not even Ned. And he would’ve never guessed that his taste in men were dangerous mercenaries in leather suits, with swords -No, he corrected himself, katanas and in the same second wondered why he remembered that- and evidently mental health issues.

Then his mind came up with a question he hadn’t considered at all yet.

What was Deadpool thinking about this whole thing? He disappeared right after their kiss and had not given Peter the opportunity to explain or apologise.

Did he think it meant something? Or would he take it as a joke, nothing serious, just something people do all the time at parties?

Nobody knew what was going on in Deadpool’s sometimes kind of twisted mind, so both ways were absolute possible.

And all the way up there, sitting on the rooftop, Peter wasn’t sure which way he’d prefer. Would he want Deadpool to take it seriously? Would he admit, first of all to himself, that he had a crush on Deadpool? How would Ned and MJ react when he’d come out to them, what about Aunt May? He was pretty sure they wouldn’t mind and still love and support him, no matter what. Hell, MJ was literally gay. But there was still a little part of insecurity left in him that whispered, “and what if not?”

Peter shook his head in an attempt to get rid of that tiny voice in his head, because that whole thing was just straight up ridiculous. The only thing they wouldn’t approve of would be his choice in men, not that he liked men in the first place.

At least he wouldn’t have to worry about Deadpool; it was an open secret that Deadpool didn’t give a flying fuck about genders.

The brown-haired boy sighed a third time and laid back on the roof, looking up in the sky. There was no way you could see the stars in the middle of the city, but Peter liked to imagine he could.

Then an idea occurred to him and he felt with his left hand for his mask, that was still lying next to him. He slipped it on but let it sit on the bridge of his nose and said “Hey, Karen?”

**Yes, Peter?**

“Could you pull up pictures from the current stellar constellation above New York and put them on full screen?” he asked.

**Sure thing.**

His request was fulfilled instantly and not even five-seconds later he looked up to a sky full of stars. For a few minutes he just enjoyed the view, while lying on the roof of a skyscraper in the middle of New York on New Year’s.

In an unexpected wave of melancholy, he wished there was someone up here with him, so he could share this moment with them.

“Jeez, Parker, get it together,” Peter told himself and in a smooth motion set back up. He still had to come up with a solution for his little …dilemma though, before he could go and fight some crime like he had planned.

In lack of any other ideas, he decided to just wait. Perhaps it was really only the alcohol that made him feel this way and it would be better to wait until he was completely sober again, instead of reacting over hastily.

What he should do though was to sit down and have a serious conversation with Ned and MJ and Aunt May. But that wasn’t urgent.

Crime was happening right now and unlike his thoughts, crime couldn’t be shoved aside. He locked all his thoughts about Deadpool and his sexuality in a mental cupboard and sprang to his feet, stretching his arms and back.

“Ready for some crime fighting?” he asked the AI and pulled his mask all the way down, while stepping to the very edge on the building.

**I am ready when you are, Peter.**

Once again, Spider-Man took off into the night, shooting webs at strategical points on constructions sites and buildings, swinging around the corners of skyscrapers and seriously looking out for any signs of crime this time. The streets down were still filled with people celebrating and it wasn’t long until he spotted the first robbery in front of a club, where a group of several rather drunk girls stumbled around.

With an almost inaudible _thud_ he landed on the pavement behind the three boys who wanted to take a shortcut through a small alleyway.

“It’s not very gentleman like to take advantage of someone who isn’t aware of their senses.”

The boys wheeled around and stared at him. Up close, Peter noticed they were a lot younger than he had anticipated. No fully criminals, just a bunch of frivolous teenagers. It was probably nothing more than a dare to them.

Spider-Man held up his hands to show that he meant no harm.

“So, here’s the deal: you give back the things you took, apologise and I’ll forget about it.”

The boys in question were not even able to speak, just nodded and one of them (probably something like the leader) held out a purse with a shaking hand. Spider-Man took a step aside and pointed over his shoulder to the group of girls.

“I’m not the one you stole it from. And while you’re on it, might as well work on your manners and make sure those girls get home safe, will ya?”

The boys nodded again timidly and walked past him to the four girls, who were still standing on the pavement in front of the club, giggling and taking pictures. Peter couldn’t be 100% sure, but the way they walked, like scolded dogs with their tails between their legs, he assumed they had learned their lesson.

He observed them handing over the stolen items and shortly after the group took off in probably the direction to one of the girl’s flat. Peter waited a couple minutes, but then decided to follow them anyway, just to make sure, and at the same time shook his head about the fact how less you could trust boys (and men) nowadays.

But everything went surprisingly well and the boys dropped the girls off at a flat 20 minutes later. Satisfied Spider-Man continued his patrol, swinging around the city for around another hour, until the tiredness finally took over and even Karen suggested to call it a night.

It wasn’t until Peter was back in his own flat and taking a hot shower, that he remembered with another (greater) sting of guilt, he hadn’t texted Aunt May. Quickly he rinsed out the shampoo, turned off the water and stepped out the shower, slinging a towel around his waist.

While he walked back to his bedroom, he unlocked his phone and discovered seven new unread texts. Four from Ned, two from MJ and one from Aunt May.

He clicked Ned’s chat first.

_12:37am_ Hey mate, Happy New Year!

_12:37am_ MJ told me you left

_12:37am_ you okay?

_12:38am_ text me when you're home, okay?

_2:19am_ yeah I’m good, just too many people

_2:19am_ and I wanted to get “a bit air” but I’m home now

_2:20am_ Happy New Year mate!

Then he went over to MJ’s chat.

_12:35am_ Told Ned, he's texting you

The second one was a picture from roughly 30 minutes ago of entwined fingers with Netflix open on the TV in the background and the caption “Netflix and chill…”

Peter grinned and typed a quick response.

_2:23am_ noice

_2:23am_ tell Max I said hi

_2:23am_ finally back home myself, going to bed now, have fun guys

The last one he opened was the text from Aunt May.

_12:00am_ Happy New Year Peter! I’m assuming you are busy party-ing so let’s just phone sometime this afternoon if you’re free, shall we? Have a great evening, May

A warm feeling began to spread from his gut while he read the text and once again, he was glad to have someone like her in his life. Still smiling, Peter put his phone on the nightstand and crawled into bed, soon slipping into sleep, carried by a suspiciously tall figure in a red and black suit but no one needed to know that…

***

It was the phone ringing which woke Peter up sometime during the early afternoon. Still half asleep, he searched around with his hand on the mattress next to him before he finally found the device and accepted the call without looking at the ID.

“Hm?” he croaked, still a bit hoarse from being asleep only a minute ago.

“Did I wake you up? I’m so sorry.” The bright voice of his aunt sounded everything but sorry.

“Happy New Year to you too, Aunt May,” Peter said and tried to suppress a yawn. He rolled on his back, took the phone from his ear and looked at the time.

1:13pm.

He had actually managed to sleep around 11 hours, which was really rare for him, being a Uni student during the day and Spider-Man at night.

“How was Mr Stark’s party? Did you guys have fun?” Aunt May asked, taking a sip from whatever beverage she was drinking. Knowing her it was probably tea.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool. Lots of important people. But I left kinda early, bit overwhelming, you know…”

May hummed understanding. Since she knew about the whole Spider-Man thing, it was so much easier to explain why he avoided being in big crowds or loud environments for too long, at least whenever he could help it.

They continued talking for a bit longer, May asked about his plans for the next days (“I don’t know, perhaps meeting with Ned and MJ for coffee sometime.” – “Oh, that’s nice.”) and Peter told her about Mr Stark wanting to work on a suit update with him (“Hopefully nothing too dangerous!” – “No May, quite the opposite. We’re making it safer.”) but Peter felt way too tired to talk any more. So, after around 10 minutes, they said their goodbyes and Peter let his arm sink down to the blanket, phone still in hand.

Going back to sleep wasn’t an option anymore, so he could as well get up. Perhaps he would actually ask MJ and Ned if they wanted to hang; he didn’t have to do anything else anyway and he was pretty sure they hadn’t either.

While he was brushing his teeth, Peter opened their group chat and typed a quick message.

_1:47pm_ Hey, anyone down for lunch today?

 _1:47pm_ **@MJ** Max can come too if she wants…

Within the next minute his phone chimed with an answer.

**Ned**

_1:48pm_ sure, when and where?

_1:48pm_ dunno

 _1:48pm_ Little Collins, 30 minutes?

**MJ**

_1:50pm_ sounds good. I’ll bring Max

**Ned**

_1:50pm_ okay

_1:51pm_ great, see ya there

Peter put his toothbrush back, glanced one last time in the mirror and went back to the bedroom, to grab a jacket.

A quick look at his phone told him he had only 13% battery left (since he was too tired last night to remember charging it), so he stuffed his power bank into his pocket alongside his wallet and a charger, then hurried to leave the flat.

He was already late and he didn’t want to make his friends wait for too long.

The streets were comparatively empty, which was not really a surprise since it was 2pm on New Year’s. Most people were probably still sleeping.

Peter put on his headphones, pulled the grey beanie further down and buried his hands in the pockets of the black winter coat he was wearing. Then he headed out into the cold in direction of Lexington Avenue.

Exactly 23 minutes later he arrived in front of the café, MJ and Max already standing outside and waving at him when they saw him.

“Hey, I’m sorry for being late,” he apologised when he stopped next to them and stored his headphones away in his pocket.

“Nah, you’re good. We just arrived, too. And Ned probably hasn’t even left the flat yet. Wanna go inside and save a table?” MJ asked, pointing over her shoulder to the entrance.

Peter noticed that her other hand was holding Max’s and he grinned meaningful, while passing her and holding the door open for the two girls. MJ flushed a bit, but her radiant smile was answer enough.

Inside the Café was a cosy atmosphere, it smelled like coffee and food and the place was not very crowded, plenty of tables were still free. The three friends occupied a table in the corner and after they sat down, MJ and Max on the bench at the wall, Peter opposite to them on one of the two chairs, the latter one pulled out his phone to text Ned that they already went inside. Then he put his phone screen down on the table, sat back and listened to the conversation about some new coral-species that were found in the ocean around the Galápagos-islands. Marine biology was a passion of MJ which was obviously shared by Max and the whole time until Ned arrived around 15 minutes later, Peter sat there and listened to them discussing about that topic. He knew he could be exactly the same with Ned when it came to Star Wars.

“Hey guys, how’s it going? I apologise for being late, I was on the phone with my mum.” The boy rolled his eyes and let himself fall on the chair next to Peter, before he continued complaining.

“She went on about how ‘important time with the family is’ and how we should ‘use the time to get to know each better’ and all that shit. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck about her new lover, let alone getting to know him.” Ned frowned and let out a deep sigh before shaking his head. His parents were divorced for not even a year now and his mum already had a new boyfriend. That Ned didn’t like him would be an absolute understatement.

“Honestly, I’m so glad I’ve got my own flat, imagine if I was stuck with them 24/7.” Just the thought alone made him shiver.

“You know you can always crash on my couch, mate,” said Peter and handed his friend the menu. Ned took the card and shoved Peter lightly with his shoulder to show his gratefulness for the offer, even though it was not really needed.

A blonde waitress appeared next to their table, her name tag reading “Jenny”.

“Hello everyone, welcome to Little Collins. What can I get you started with?” Jenny asked and pulled out her notepad, while smiling in the round, her eyes lingering on Peter.

He smiled back at her and then gestured for the girls to order first.

“I’ll have a Latte Macchiato and the Buttermilk Pancakes, please,” MJ started and looked over to Max.

“Hot chocolate for me and also the Pancakes, thanks.”

“I’ll have a Latte Macchiato, too, and the Chorizo Baked Eggs, thank you.” Ned closed the menu and put it back down on the table.

“And for me a cappuccino and the Serrano Ham, please,” Peter finished their order and with a little nod and another smile Jenny left.

Ned leaned forward and set his forearms on the table before starting to talk.

“Okay. So, last night. Absolutely crashing. My conversation with Doctor Banner? A-ma-zing.” He pronounced every syllable of the last word separately for more emphasis.

“The drinks? The best booze I’ve ever had. And those fireworks were the absolute craziest shit. Almost made up for not having a New Year’s Kiss.” At the last sentence Ned grinned but didn’t look too sorry for himself.

Peter briefly thought about how his friends would react if he just casually dropped the bomb and said, “Remember that mercenary I hate so much, Deadpool? Yeah, I had my New Year’s Kiss with him,” but he stayed silent. No need to alarm them about something he was so unsure about himself.

The conversation about the party went on — the food, the drinks and the people they met and saw. Sometime in the middle of their speculation about when Captain America and the Winter Soldier would officially announce that they were dating Jenny came back to bring the beverages and informed them that their food would be ready soon as well.

While everyone was enjoying their drinks and the conversation lobbed away for a bit, MJ leaned over the table and gestured for Peter to come closer, who leaned towards her.

“That waitress, Jenny, really fancies you, huh?” she grinned impishly.

Peter flushed a bit and looked down. He too had already noticed that Jenny basically had only talked to him the last two times she was at their table.

“Oh, shut up,” he mumbled, fiddling with the coffee cup in front of him, before taking a sip. He instantly regretted it. That coffee was still hot as hell.

MJ just laughed and friendly nudged his arm, while Peter was coughing and tried to catch his breath.

“You should shoot your shot,” the redhead said and then sat back on the bench as Jenny once again walked up to their table, holding a tray in her hands.

“Here you go, enjoy your food,” Jenny said, after she handed everyone their plate, but once again looked only at Peter while saying it.

He just smiled in response, then grabbed his sandwich and started to eat, avoiding MJ’s pointed look.

“Oh god, I’m starving,” Max groaned, as she grabbed her fork and tucked in her pancakes, which looked really delicious.

“Yeah, I imagine you girls had a busy night,” Ned insinuated and then had to dodge the balled-up napkin MJ threw at him.

Everyone laughed; they all knew he was right. Peter was genuinely happy for the two of them, that this thing they had was apparently more than just a hook-up.

For a while nobody talked, and everyone was just enjoying their food, only interrupted by the scratch of forks on a plate and the clinging when a coffee cup was sat down.

The background noise was filled with the talking of the other customers, plates clattering in the kitchen and music quietly playing through hidden speakers.

After finishing his sandwich, Peter leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and was just content to sit there, enjoy the atmosphere and wait for his friends to finish as well.

“That was really good,” MJ commented, after swallowing the last bite of her pancake and took the last sip of her coffee.

The other three hummed approvingly and Ned asked “So, what’s the plan for now?”

Peter shrugged, “Honestly, I wouldn’t say no to just chilling a bit and perhaps watching a movie or something,” he suggested with a yawn.

“I’d be down for that too,” Ned agreed and offered, “we can hang at my place again if you want.”

“Sounds good,” said Max and reached for her purse, when Peter stopped her.

“Nah, my treat, I’ll invite you all. Okay, well, Mr Stark does,” he added with a grin and pulled out the Stark Industries credit card Mr Stark gave him. Being an (unofficial) part of the Avengers did have its perks.

The other three cheered and Peter signalised Jenny they were ready to pay. When she gave him his receipt, she winked at him, but Peter didn’t really think about it.

The four of them were basically hanging out the whole afternoon at Ned’s, watching Netflix and ordered Pizza later and it wasn’t until the evening of that day when he was back in his flat and emptied his pockets, that he found a phone number scribbled in one corner of the receipt. Peter grinned and snapped a quick picture of it to send to MJ.

_9:53pm_ look what I got… XD

His friend answered almost instantly.

_9:54pm_ I KNEW it! Go get her, Tiger

Peter sighed and turned his phone in his fingers, unsure what to do. Yeah, Jenny seemed nice and she was pretty, but he felt literally no spark while thinking about her. She wasn’t really his type.

“Yes, because your type is currently men,” said a little voice in the back of his head, which he pointedly ignored.

With another sigh he opened a new chat and typed in the number from the piece of paper. Aunt May had raised too much of a gentleman for him to just ignore it. In his opinion it just wasn’t fair for Jenny.

_9:57pm_ Hey, it’s Peter from earlier, you gave me your number…

I’m flattered, but I kindly have to decline, sorry,

I’m currently not looking for a relationship or anything.

All the best

Then he put on a Netflix series (he settled for _Black Mirror_ ) and scrolled a bit through Reddit while watching it until around 2am he finally felt tired enough to go to sleep.  
Right before he drifted into the world of dreams Peter realised he had just spent the entire day without thinking about Deadpool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and as always feel free to LMK what You think...
> 
> I'm always open for suggestions to add to this story/constructive criticism 
> 
> Have a great rest of Your day/evening/night ^^


	3. February

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight in an abandon warehouse, brunch with Aunt May and a surprise on Valentine's Day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV Peter

“Hey, Peter?”

The boy looked up from the paper he was reading and saw Nick, a black-haired boy with glasses, standing in the door to the break room for the interns at Stark Industries. He wore his usual white lab coat over dark blue jeans and twirled a pencil in his fingers, while leaning at the door frame, basically blocking the entrance.

“Yeah?”

“Mr Stark wanna see you in Lab 3,” Nick said in a bored voice, but he was looking curiously at Peter.

“Oh, alright.” Peter hastily started to collect the several loose pages that were strown across the table he sat on. Better not let Mr Stark wait.

He sprang to his feet, picked up his own lab coat from where it hung on the back of the chair and collected his empty coffee cup from the table. With a pointed throw it landed in the bin next to the small kitchen counter while he passed it.

Nick stood still in the door frame and showed no incentive that he was going to move.

“Uhm, could you please go out of the way?” Peter asked, frowning at the other boy. He really didn’t want to deal with this, when he knew Tony Stark was waiting for him.

“Stark wants to see you quite often. What are you guys up to? What’s so special about you, that no one else has?”

Peter felt heat rising in his cheeks. He knew that it was suspicious how often he got called to Stark’s personal laboratory as he was officially only an intern. But he couldn’t just tell the truth and say that the special thing about him was having super-powers and that they were working on a new suit for Spider-Man.

So, all Peter did was to stutter something out about having no clue why Mr Stark specifically wanted him and looked to the ground. Nick just drew up an eyebrow but gave way without further comment.

Thankfully, Peter dashed past him and jogged all the way down the stairs and through the corridor to the lab at the end.

The doors opened with the familiar hiss and FRIDAY greeted him in her usual cold but still kind of friendly voice.

**Hello, Peter. Mr Stark will be there any minute. Do you want me to pull up the holograms and graphics from last time?**

“That would be great, thank you.”

Peter started to look over the work they had done last time, adding some thoughts here and there and after not even 10 minutes the glass doors hissed again and the billionaire entered the lab.

“Great, you’re here. I see you’ve already started,” he added with a grin and took one last sip out of a Stark Industries mug before setting it down on one of the unoccupied lab counters next to the door.

Peter grinned remorsefully and shrugged. He loved working on Spidey stuff, sue him.

Tony stepped closer and examined the notes and suggestions the boy had made, while Peter stood next to him, nervously chewing his bottom lip and waiting for Mr Stark to comment something.

“That’s some good stuff there, kid,” Tony finally said and looked over to his protégé.

“I like the idea with the colour changes. Don’t get me wrong, blue and red is good, but you know, the red and black suit seems more… mature.” The man scratched his beard and frowned, while zooming into another part of the suit, the chest piece, where his Spider-Drone sat.

“Hm, I think we could work on Droney-“ Peter smiled at Mr Stark using the nick name he gave the little robot, “-and improve its flight stabilisation further. Also, what is your opinion on coming up with another web formular that’s even stronger and dissolves slower?”

Even while Mr Stark was still talking, Peter’s mind began to run a hundred miles an hour, different chemical equations, elements, and constellations to make this happen appeared in his head.

“Oh, yeah. And I definitely wanna keep the parachute.”

Tony pointed finger guns at him and said “I gotcha, kid.”

For a few hours the both of them worked on the suit, coming up with new ideas, getting rid of others and tweaking others. Tony tinkered at Droney, while Peter mainly tried new web fluids and only now and then walked over to where the suit laid half-finished on a work bench. Time flew by and without them noticing 9PM came and go, until Peter began to yawn more frequently and dropped the test tube he was holding by accident.

The glass clattering caused the older man to look up.

“FRIDAY, what time is it?”

**It is currently 10:47PM, Eastern Standard Time.**

“Oh, jeez. Look that you get home, kid. We can continue this — not tomorrow, though. I’m in meetings basically the whole day.” He rolled his eyes in such an annoyed manner, that Peter couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“But perhaps sometime later this week, I’ll let you know.”

After collecting their thing, they left the lab together, Tony turning to the elevator, while Peter walked towards the stairs.

“Have a good evening, kid,” Mr Stark said, before the elevator doors closed and Peter began his ascendency in the empty staircase to collect his things from the break room.

***

Between Uni assignments, time in the lab with Mr Stark, nightly patrols and meetings with Ned and MJ for coffee or lunch, January had slowly drifted into February without Peter noticing.

Deadpool had tracked him down a couple times on patrol as Spider-Man, but Peter had always noticed him before he was close enough to speak to him and after another three or five times of Spider-Man shaking him off, Deadpool had stopped trying to approach him.

Peter knew it wasn’t really fair of him, but he still hadn’t come to term with his own feelings and even though he should probably listen to what Deadpool had to say (because obviously he wanted to speak to him) Peter was, to be quite honest, a little afraid.

What if Deadpool was serious and Peter wasn’t sure if he was ready for something even remotely close to a relationship?

So, he avoided Deadpool whenever he saw him, but still procrastinated with sorting out his feelings. He was just glad Deadpool at least respected not track him down as Peter Parker. Since the mercenary had discovered his secret identity after his almost-fall in the hallway during Stark’s party, he low-key expected Deadpool -or someone he had sell that information to- to kick down his flat door and try to kill him any day.

Even though it would make things easier.

It was late afternoon of the 13th and he was once again out as Spider-Man, crouching on the side of a wall in an abandoned warehouse, with his fingertips attached to the dirty bricks observing a weapons deal happening. He needed to wait for the weapons and money to be shown before he interfered so Karen could send those recordings as evidence over to the police.  
Peter moved a couple inches closer and directed his attention back to the conversation.

“Let me see the goods,” he heard a man in a white suit and dark brown Bermudas saying - all of this is thanks to Karen’s interrogation mode. White Suit was obviously the leader of the buyers, even though Peter highly doubted he was the head behind the whole organisation. But it was at least a start.

Standing behind White Suit on each site were two men -they must be his bodyguards, judging from their muscular built. Both wearing black suits but also holding machine guns and after a quick scan from Karen Peter also knew they were equipped with heavy protection gear, several other guns and even grenades.

Lingering in the background were three further men perhaps meant for protection, transporting the goods and doing other dirty work.

The other group was standing a good distance apart from White Suit. Neither of them were dressed like White Suit, just daily clothes like jeans and hoodies. The group consisted of seven people, five men with a similar built to the bodyguards; four of them holding guns. The two females didn’t look like princesses either. One had short, purple hair, and carried a machine gun. The other chewed gum while playing with a knife, seemingly bored.

Karen had given him the specs on these people. All of them already had a criminal record. White Suit and the bodyguards were clean, but Peter was sure that was just evidence of how good they were at what they're doing.

Well, time to change that and hopefully catching an even bigger fish while doing so.

Meanwhile a full bearded man in jeans and leather jacket (the one without a gun) from the seller group had walked over to a pick-up truck with several wooden boxes on the loading area. The license plate was too dirty, even Karen couldn’t read it. The truck itself was parked near a slightly open sliding gate; those people really knew what they were doing.

Leather Jacket opened the lid on one of the boxes and gestured to something inside, assumingly the weapons. White Suit stepped closer, carefully avoiding a dark puddle of a not-identifiable substance -from water over oil to blood, it could literally be anything- to not get dirt on his expensive shoes and peered into the box.

Peter was just about to creep closer to try and get a better angle to film inside the box, when his Spidey-senses, which were already on edge with the weapons deal going on below him, started to go even more haywire and he noticed a tiny movement in his peripheral. Momentarily distracted, he turned his head and was just able to see a figure in a suspiciously red and black suit, before the shooting started.

“Oh crap! Karen, rapid fire and keep recording!” he shouted, before swinging into action.

**Sure thing, Peter. Do you want me to alert Mr Stark about the situation?**

“No, I have this under controo-ah!”

The web he was swinging on got cleanly cut through by a bullet and he fell several meters, before he was able to catch himself with another quickly shot web to the ceiling. He landed on a crossbeam, dodging the bullets that were still flying through the air and looked around.

The bodyguards and the four people with guns had started firing in direction of a person appearing through a large, broken window into the warehouse.

“OH JESUS! Spidey, I am so sorry, are you okay?”

“Deadpool, what the hell are you doing here?!” Peter yelled back, but his voice got drowned in the shouts from the men involved in the weapons deal and the noise from the machine guns, so he wasn’t sure if Deadpool had heard him.

“I thought we had a deal!” White Suit shouted, running towards a black car in the other corner of the hall, next to another, a bit smaller sliding gate. Peter fired webs at him, webbing his feet to the ground and keeping White Suit from moving away. The man let out a surprised yelp, as he lost his balance and fell forward, staining his suit.

“Fuck, there’re two of them!” yelled one of the sellers, starting to aim at Spider-Man, still crouching on the crossbeam. Peter dodged those bullets, too and with a few well-placed webs, he disarmed the man and webbed him to the ground as well.

“Quick, we’re outta here!” That was Leather Jacket, pulling open the door on the driver’s site of the pick-up. His companions hurried to follow his example and jumped in the car and on motor bikes, after opening the big gate wide enough for the truck.

In the meantime, Deadpool had taken the opportunity to successfully knock out the three henchmen and was now on his way over to prevent the sellers from leaving, emptying a whole magazine into the tires of the truck.

Spider-Man swung back into action, trying to catch the bodyguards before they reached the car, but it was too late. The motor was already running and even though Peter knew he could lift a bus with bare hands, he decided to join Deadpool with the sellers. White Suit was more important anyway.

With the two back tires destroyed, the truck had a hard time moving forward, but Leather Jacket didn’t give up and pressed the gas pedal full force, trying to get away.

Another web, aimed at the back of one of the motorbike riders and the sixth person was down.

“Go after the other bike, I’ll look after the truck,” shouted Deadpool, gesturing to the gate, where the second person on the motorbike was sliding around in an attempt to steer the bike and firing their gun at the same time.

Spider-Man hurried over, ducking down to avoid the bullets, but he was a split second too slow.

Something hit his left thigh, there was a sting and his leg felt like fire. He clutched his thigh but kept limping forward, shooting webs at the bike, but it was too late. With a last howl of the engine, it whirled up a dust cloud and vanished.

Peter sank down the ground, still pressing a hand to the bullet wound, breathing heavily.

**Peter, it seems like you're heavily injured. Do you want me to contact someone?**

“No, just call the police to deal with those criminals,” he said with clenched teeth, while looking around for Deadpool and the truck.

The car was standing half outside the warehouse, two tires and basically all windows destroyed. Beside the truck were lying the four other people, hands and ankles nicely tied up with duct tape and zip ties, Deadpool securing the last one, before standing back up.

When he found Spider-Man lying on the ground as well, he quickly walked over and kneeled beside him.

“Hey Spidey, you okay?”

“Obviously not, duh,” Peter said and in the same second felt guilt for the cocky answer.

Deadpool ignored him and pulled Peter’s hands from thigh he was still clutching.

“I don’t know how fast your healing factor is, but you should clean that up,” he said after looking at the wound, guiding Peter’s hands back and pressing on it to stop the blood flow.

“Do you have somewhere to go? I have a safe house, around 10 minutes from here," Deadpool added, sitting back and giving the young hero some space.

Peter stayed silent, weighing his options.

As much as he hated to admit it, Deadpool was right, he really should clean and disinfect the wound before it got infected and took even longer to heal. Avengers Tower was too far away to make it there, same for his own flat. At the moment it seemed like Deadpool’s safe house was his best go.

“Alright,” Peter said, righten himself up before he continued, “under the condition of not talking about anything not relating to patching up. I’ll go with you, clean that shit and then I’m outta there. Are we clear?”

He could hear Deadpool swallow, but the Merc nodded and without further delay picking the smaller boy up and carried him through the gate and over the place surrounded by smaller sheds around the main warehouse, heading in direction of his safe house. Peter put an arm around Deadpool’s neck for more support, trying not to hit the katanas attached to the man’s back.

In the distance they could hear the police cars arriving, the sirens constantly getting louder. Deadpool turned left and headed through a small alleyway lined with trash bags, some of them ripped open from probably animals. It smelled strongly like rotten food and piss and Peter was glad when they came out on the other side, especially since it slowly started to get dark.

Deadpool walked around the corner and then stopped after another couple steps in front of a door. The house wall on the front was full of graffiti, the windows of the ground floor barricaded with planks. Deadpool pressed the door open with his shoulders and carried Peter up the stairs. The inside of the house matched exactly the look outside. The staircase was littered with waste, a half-assembled bike stood on one landing and from somewhere came rock music.

Deadpool mumbled “Careful,” before setting Peter down in front of a door almost at the end of the hallway on the third floor, to fumble for his keys.

Peter didn’t fail to notice that the man wasn’t even slightly out of breath after carrying him for 10 minutes and up three floors and he wasn't walking slowly.

The door, from which the dark green paint started to peel, squealed in its hinges as it swung open, to make way to a dark flat.

“Bathroom’s down the hall,” said Deadpool in a tiny voice, pointing in the direction. “You need help getting there?”

Peter nodded, his teeth again clenched together. Now that he had to support his weight again, he was reminded that he had a bullet wound in his thigh. Deadpool picked him up again and carried him to the tiny bathroom, letting him sit on the toilet lid.

“Med kit is in the cabinet under the sink, I’ll be in the kitchen.” And with that he quickly left and closed the door behind him.

For a couple moments Peter just sat there in the windowless room, the only light coming from a naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The tiles were stained with something he didn’t even want to know the origin of, it smelled slightly like mould and the faucet from the shower, concealed by a dirty-white shower curtain, was leaking.

The throbbing pain in his thigh pulled Peter back to reality and he stretched out one arm to open the cabinet door.

He knew Deadpool had a healing factor even stronger than his own, giving him the ability to even come back from death, so he expected Deadpool’s idea of a “med kit” to be couple band aids and perhaps disinfection spray.

What he didn’t expect was a military level med kit -if you could still call it that. Peter whistled quietly through his teeth, wondering why Deadpool would have stuff like this with a healing factor like his. Then again, he was definitely not complaining and actually he didn’t really want to know, so instead he ruffled around a little, until he found the supplies he needed and started to take off his suit. He whimpered a bit when he peeled off the fabric from around the wound but after roughly 10 minutes the suit was off, and he went to work.

After another fifteen minutes or so, he had cleaned up the wound, disinfected it and wrapped it up with a bandage. He didn’t really look forward to swing home through half the city in a half-destroyed suit, but oh well.

Peter just put away the stuff he hadn’t needed, when he came across an orange plastic bottle half full of pills. It was labelled _Sixmo_ per hand but nothing else.

“Hey Karen, what’s _Sixmo_?” he murmured, but Karen understood him nevertheless.

**Sixmo, actual name: buprenorphine. Opioid to treat acute or chronical pain. Most common side effects are constipation, drowsiness and nausea.**

Peter shook two of the light orange pills into his palm and looked at them, before he shrugged and swallowed them with a big gulp of water directly from the faucet. Couldn’t do any harm. Then he took one last deep breath before opening the door and limping back outside in the still dark hallway. At least he could walk (more or less) on his own again. Hopefully that painkiller kicked in soon. He anticipated it to be something strong as Deadpool used it a lot, judging from the half empty bottle.

Peter slowly made his way past a half open door leading to another dark room, probably Deadpool’s bedroom, past the flat door and followed the light in direction of the kitchen, where he could hear the Merc shuffle around.

When Peter appeared in the door frame, he turned around and Peter could see that he had gotten rid of the katanas and a few other weapons, which were now lying on the already full kitchen table.

“Uhm, I’m done,” Peter said quietly and lifted his hand to drag it though his hair, before he remembered he had his mask on, so his arm hoovered mid-air for a moment, before he let it sink down again.

“Oh, and I took two of that Sixmo-stuff I found in the cabinet, hope that’s okay,” he added in an afterthought.

Deadpool just nodded as sign that he had understood and fiddled with an oily rug he was holding.

“Well, I guess, I’m going then…”

Again there was just a nod as an answer. Not really sure what else to do, Peter waved awkwardly, before turning back around, going back through the dark hallway and grabbed the doorknob. Before he opened the door he stayed still and listened but he could hear nothing but the rock music from below and the faucet dropping in the bathroom.

When it was clear that Deadpool wouldn’t follow him, he shrugged again and left, down the shabby hallway and through the entry door.

As soon as he stood outside on the street, he took another deep couple breaths and tried to process what had happened during the last hour.

Deadpool had interfered during a weapons deal (Peter realised he still had no idea what he was doing there in the first place).

Het got shot -wouldn’t be the first time- then got carried by Deadpool to his safe house and during that whole time, the men hadn’t said more than three sentences, which was very weird itself because the Deadpool he knew usually wouldn’t stop talking until he was forced to.

Peter shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and checked his web shooters. The best was to get home as quick as possible and sleep for a couple of hours to give his leg as much rest as possible.

He was meeting Aunt May for brunch the next morning and by then he wanted to be able to walk normally again. His aunt was already worried enough with him being Spider-Man, she didn’t need to know about any possible bullet wound he might suffer from.

With a deep sigh, he shot a web and launched himself into the air.

“Hey Karen, could you show me the fasted route to my flat?” he asked the AI and started to make his way across the city.

***

“So, tell me, what’s going on in your life lately?” asked May and carefully balance her fork loaded with scrambled eggs to her mouth. They were out for brunch, like usually on Valentine’s Day, and even though Peter really had missed seeing Aunt May, at this moment all he wanted was to be back in his bed again. Instead, he sat in Little Collins again, just two tables away from where he usually sat with MJ and Ned, with a plate of food in front of him, that he had barely touched.

Different things flashed up in Peter’s mind; Deadpool’s and his kiss, MJ having a girlfriend, Deadpool, him getting shot (he could walk again, thankfully, but it still hurt like a bitch), Mr Stark and him working on a new suit and, of course, a certain mercenary. He settled with the second one, since it seemed the most uncomplicated.

“MJ has a girlfriend,” he said and picked on his own eggs. After the whole “Deadpool interfering with the weapons deal and bringing him to his safe house afterwards”-thing yesterday he had kind of lost his appetite. Too much was going on in his mind to worry about something banal like food. Logically Peter knew he should eat to help with the healing, but he just couldn’t get himself to bother.

“Oh, how lovely,” commented Aunt May and set her cutlery down to take a sip orange juice. Another proof of how loving and supportive his aunt was, just accepting everyone for who they were, happy when they're happy. Peter could definitely see where he got that from.

“How did they meet?”

“At Mr Stark’s New Year’s Eve party. They’ve been basically together since then.”

Aunt May grinned and said, “At least one of your friends got a New Year’s Kiss.”

Once again Peter was wondering what would happen if he just said the truth, and -once again- decided firmly against it.

“Hm,” he made and shoved a fork of lukewarm eggs half-heartly in his mouth. It felt like he was chewing on cardboard.

The smile on his aunt’s face vanished and gave way to a more serious, worried look.

“Peter, are you okay?” 

The boy jerked as he was dragged from his thoughts and forced a smile on his face.

“Yeah, sure.” And since he knew he couldn’t fool his aunt he added a bit quieter, “I’m just a bit tired lately.” Which was not a lie per se. He really was tired —both, mentally and physically.

Aunt May looked even more worried now, her forehead in deep wrinkles.

“Are you working too much? Not a fan of that Tony Stark, to be honest. He should give you more free time. As happy as I am for you about having that internship, you’re still in uni after all,” she said with a hint of disapproval in her voice.

“No, it’s not Mr Stark’s fault, Aunt May. I’m fine, really. I just need to catch up on sleep, that’s all.”

Aunt May still didn’t look convinced but let the topic drop, which Peter was thankful for. He really didn’t want to worry his Aunt more than she already was.

“So, you got any plans for today, besides taking your old aunt out for brunch?”

“You’re not old, Aunt May. And I’m probably just going home after this. There’s this essay I still have to finish. Perhaps asking Ned if he wants to go out for a couple drinks or so later, not sure.” He added the last part only to satisfy his aunt, so she wouldn’t think he overworked himself.

“Yeah, you should do that. Two handsome bachelors out on Valentine’s Day, you could probably get some ladies,” Aunt May said with a wink.

Peter flushed and looked down on his plate again. “Stop it, Aunt May,” he mumbled slightly embarrassed. The last thing he needed was something like the situation with Jenny again.

As much as he had enjoyed meeting Aunt May again, he was a bit relieved when they payed 20 minutes later and parted ways in front of the Café, after he had promised May to look a bit more after himself (in his pockets, hidden from her eyes, his fingers were crossed).

The weather was still rather cold for mid-February, so after the time it took for him to walk back to his flat, his face felt frozen from the icy wind and he just had dropped his jacket over the back of the sofa and contemplated whether or not he wanted to take a hot shower, when the phone in his pocket buzzed with a message.

Ned had sent a text.

_1:53pm_ hey mate

 _1:53pm_ got any plans for today?

_1:54pm_ nope, nothing planned

_1:54pm_ wanna hang and have a couple drinks later?

_1:55pm_ yeah sure

 _1:55pm_ 7pm, my place?

_1:56pm_ I’ll bring some alc

_1:57pm_ I think I’ve still got some too

_1:57pm_ noice, see ya then

_1:59pm_ see ya

With 5 hours still remaining until they met, Peter decided to go out for patrol a couple hours. His leg still hurt a little, but he had suffered worse. And if he had the chance to procrastinate another few hours instead of having to deal with his feeling, who was he to not use it? He was cold already anyway.

So, with a sigh, he picked up his suit from where it lay on the bedroom floor and got changed.

Not even 15 minutes later, the (for now) red and blue clad figure of Spider-Man was swinging through the city again, performing mid-air flips and catching himself just above the pedestrian’s heads.

Peter didn’t really feel like actually going on patrol, but it was nice to put on the suit and be just Spidey for a while.

Spidey didn’t have to put up with Peter-Problems.

For a while he was just lazily swinging around, every now and then stopping to take a picture with a fan and helping an old lady across the street.

It was just when he crossed Washington Square Park, when all of a sudden, his Spidey-Senses started to tingle. Confused, he turned around to find the source of it, but couldn’t spot anything.

Just a few couples strolling around, kids running around, a man wearing a hoodie sitting on a bench and some people walking dogs, nothing unusual.

Peter shook his head and continued walking, but not without a quick request to Karen.

“Hey Karen, could you do a scan from the park for any suspicious objects?” he mumbled, shooting a web to a nearby tree to get a better view.

**Sure thing, Peter.  
Scan completed. No objects of special interest detected. **

“Okay, thank you.”

But his neck still tingled the whole way back to his flat. It was already almost 6pm, time to get a shower and cleaning at least the couch, setting up the console and ordering some Pizza.

5 minutes later he landed on the rooftop of his building and opened the door leading to the staircase.

Thankfully he lived on the top floor, so the chance of running into someone while being Spider-Man was really, really low. He still listened for any activity (or lack thereof) in the staircase, before entering it and jogging the few meters to his flat door.

The tingling in his neck had stopped since he’d entered the building, which he was grateful for. Nothing was more annoying than the constant buzzing of Spidey-Senses.

Peter just finished placing the pizza order in the app, when his doorbell rang, indicating the arrival of his best friend.

Ned shoved him aside and placed the bag he was holding on the kitchen island (it clattered suspiciously when he sat it down) before turning around and grinning at Peter.

The other on strolled behind him into the open living space, cast a quick look in the bag and raised an eyebrow.

“You intend to open a bar in my flat?” he asked but a grin pulled at the corners of his lips.

“Nah, mate. I couldn’t decide what I wanna drink, so I brought it all,” Ned answered with satisfaction in his voice before he kicked his shoes off, dropped his winter coat on the couch and started to move the several alcohol bottles from the bag to the fridge, along with a few non-alcoholic drinks such as juice, to use to mix or as a chaser.

Peter snatched two cold beer from the fridge, opened them and walked over to the couch, where he set down the bottles and grabbed his controller.

“What do you wanna play first?” he yelled over to where Ned was still occupied with rearranging basically the whole fridge to place the alcohol in there.

“Dunno, a round DBD?” he answered and took the bowl with crisps, standing ready on the kitchen counter, with him on his way to join his friend on the couch.

Letting out a deep groan, he sank into the cushion and took a long sip of his beer.

“I swear to god, adults are so…” he searched for the right word, “annoying,” he finished.

Peter hummed in agreement while starting the game and throwing the second controller at Ned, who set down his bottle on the coffee table and tried to find a comfortable sitting position.

“My mum called me earlier just to coo almost twenty minutes about ‘how romantic’ Hank is and how he’s taking her to this fancy place for dinner tonight and that he even got her that new dress she wanted.” Ned rolled his eyes and took another sip beer.

“Honestly, at this point I wonder why she even bothers to tell me stuff like that, as if I would care. He can throw money at her as much as he wants, doesn’t change the fact that he’s got a crappy character.”

“Well, perhaps she’ll eventually find that out herself,” Peter said, settling for a black-curly haired girl in a green Christmas-themed onesie as his character.

“Hopefully rather sooner than later,” Ned scoffed, choosing his own character, a guy in a sailor uniform, before he added, “she’s still my mum after all. And as happy as I’d be when Hank is gone, I don’t wish her a broken heart when he dumps her.”

Their characters loaded into the lobby and with a last sip Ned emptied his beer before the match started.

They did good until Peter underestimated the distance of the killer and started running too late. He got hooked as a result and his character let out a scream.

“Ah, damn it,” he said, leaning forwards to take a sip from his yet untouched beer.

“Hang on, I’m just gonna finish this generator, then I can unhook you.” Ned frowned in concentration, his eyes glued to the screen of the big TV; a housewarming gift from Mr Stark.

“Pun intended?” Peter grinned, while finishing his own bottle just in time for Ned’s character showing up in front of his, going for the unhook.

After around five more minutes the match was over, they said their GGs in the game chat and Peter took the time until the next match to quickly use the bathroom and replace the empty beer bottles on the coffee table with two full ones.

They played another two matches (Ned escaped both times, Peter one time) before the pizzas arrived and Ned decided it was time for the first “real drink”. He was also the one who took the task to prepare them, while Peter went to take the food and pay the (admittingly cute) delivery boy.

“Jeez, why don’t we just drink the alcohol without any juice?” Peter commented on Ned putting four shots each in their drinks and let the two cartons fall on the kitchen counter, searching for some napkins.

“Shut up and drink,” his best friend grinned and shoved a glass in his hand, ice cubes clinging at the motion.

“Cheers to Valentine’s Day as a bachelor!” Peter said, before lifting the glass to his lips. The drink was good, he didn’t exactly know what Ned put in it, but the alcohol was almost untastable so he emptied the drink to a third in one go.

Meanwhile Ned lifted the lid and inspected the content of the pizza carton on top.

“Pizza Fungi, yes,” he said and licked his lips.

“Great, means the other one is mine.” Peter returned with a pack of napkins in his right hand, the left one still holding his drink. It was almost empty by now.

“Slow down, Parker. We have the whole evening in front of us,” Ned grinned, but there was no judgement in his voice.

“Get _rekt_ , Leeds,” Peter countered and reached around his friend to prepare himself another drink.

They took the pizza over to eat on the couch, starting to watch _How I Met Your Mother_ for what felt like the 37th time.

Just as Peter set his carton aside to finish yet another drink, the doorbell rang. Puzzled, he looked over to Ned, who had the same look in his eyes.

“Are we expecting someone else?” the latter asked.

“No one I know of,” Peter said confused and got up to answer the door, Ned hot on his heels.

“Excuse me, how can I help you?” he asked the boy on his doormat, holding an insanely amount of dark red and black roses.

“Delivery for a Mister Parker,” the boy said and looked between them, trying to figure out who the recipient was.

“Uhm, that would be me,” Peter stepped forward to take the bunch of roses from the boy’s arms.

“I also got this,” the delivery boy continued and picked up a white paper bag from the floor, that Peter hadn’t noticed yet. When he glanced inside, he saw several packages of chocolate.

And they didn’t look cheap.

“Okay, well, thanks, I guess?” Unsure what to do he looked over at Ned; who would send him an insane amount of roses and a bag full of expensive pralines? But his mate just shrugged with a smug grin on his face.

“Listen, are you sure you got the right person?” Peter asked, still confused.

The boy pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to Peter. There stood his name, black on white, along with his address and flat number. A sender was not listed.

“Oh,” he made, thanked the boy again and gave him a tip. He was just doing his job.

Peter took the roses and paper bag inside, Ned following him, putting the question that was floating around in his head into words.

“Who the hell would send you this stuff? On _Valentine’s Day_?” He put emphasis on the last two words.

“I don’t know mate,” Peter answered, but that was a lie. In fact, he had a hunch when he saw the black roses mixed into the red ones. And that hunch turned into a solid idea, when he saw the card, right in the middle of the bunch of roses, now lying on the kitchen counter.

He snatched it before Ned would notice it, but he was busy rummaging through the different packages of chocolate.

Peter opened the card and there, written in red ink on fancy looking, crème-coloured paper, stood three words.

_Happy Valentine’s, Spidey!_

Peter groaned and let his forehead sink to the marble countertop. This couldn’t be real.

Nope.

“Haha, Peter got a secret lover,” Ned sang in a mocking voice, a half empty chocolate box in his left hand.

“Did you find out from who it is? Wasn’t there a card or something?”

Peter shook his head, subconsciously shoving the piece of paper in the back pocket of his jeans. He wasn’t ready for that confession.

“Perhaps someone who has too much money and found it funny.”

That again wasn’t a lie. Peter was pretty sure Deadpool didn’t stop giggling, while writing that card and settling for black and red roses - the colours of his suit.

Ned just shrugged again and let another piece of chocolate vanish in his mouth, closing his eyes while doing so.

“This shit is damn delicious,” he raved, already picking his next one.

Peter cast a critical look to the flowers on his kitchen island and his confusion slowly turned into anger. What the hell was Deadpool thinking sending him this stuff?! And then that card. What if someone other than him had opened it, someone who potentially didn’t know he was Spider-Man? The brown-haired boy scuffed.

With two steps, he reached the drawer where he kept his trash bags, pulled one out and walked back. With another quick motion, he swiped the roses off the counter and into the black plastic bag, making sure not one rose petal was left. The full bag landed next to the kitchen door, ready to be taken out.

Satisfied with himself, Peter opened the fridge to get himself another drink.

Ned, who had observed the whole thing without saying a word, looked from the trash bag full of roses on the ground, to his best friend and opened his mouth, just to decide otherwise in the last moment and closed it again.

From the look on his face, Peter could tell that Ned had figured out that he knew who had send him the roses and the chocolate, but he was glad Ned left the situation uncommented.

“You want another drink, too?” Peter asked eventually to break the silence between them, only interrupted by _How I Met Your Mother_ still playing in the background.

“Yeah, sure.” Ned went to get his glass and with that the awkwardness broke.

The rest of the evening went rather unspectacular; they had a couple more drinks, watched Netflix and talked about everything that came to mind.

Around 3AM Ned fell asleep on the sofa and Peter pulled a blanket over him, before entering his bedroom to grab a pair of joggers. When he took off his jeans something fell out of the pocket. Peter leaned down and instantly recognised what it was, not remembering he’d put it in his pocket until then. For a couple seconds he just stood there in his bedroom, only lit by the light coming from the street outside, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and looking at the one and only Valentine’s card he‘s ever gotten, from no other than the person he hated the most.

And for some reason he couldn’t even explain himself, he put it in his bedside table before going back in the living and joining Ned on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks for reading and feel free to let me know what you think...
> 
> Have a great rest of your day/evening/night ^^


	4. March

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter since it's just a "fill-in", my apologies. Next one will be longer again.
> 
> POV Peter

The hands deep in his pockets, Peter walked the pavement along the Lexington Avenue in direction of Little Collins, as so often.

Harry Styles’ _Treat People With Kindness_ was playing through his headphones and it automatically put him in a better mood after a long morning in the lab with Mr Stark. They finally finished his new suit and he couldn’t wait to try all the new additions and improvements they had made.

Unfortunately, he had already agreed to meet with MJ for coffee, so going out as Spider-Man had to wait a little longer.

Peter would always put his friends before any superhero duty, it was not negotiable. Even if the occasion was only the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in almost a month.

He got MJ’s text just when he came home from patrol on Wednesday. It had been good, he prevented a few people from getting mugged, stopped an ATM robbery and even saved a kitten from a tree and returned it into the arms of a very happy little girl. He had treated himself to a rooftop pizza for dinner at around 9pm and then continued a surprisingly quiet patrol for another two hours before deciding to call it a night and swing home. The moment he closed the door to his flat his phone chimed in one of the hidden pockets. After pulling off his mask and throwing it carelessly on the couch, he looked at the screen to see who’d texted him.

_11:33pm:_ Wanna go out for coffee on Friday? 2:30pm?

Peter had instantly replied to MJ’s message with a “yeah, sure!” and now here he was, two days later on his ways to meet one of his best friends he hadn’t seen for far too long.

He even was a little early this time, so he had to wait a couple minutes in front of the café before MJ arrived, cheeks cold from the icy wind, but grinning so happy that Peter couldn’t help himself but smile back.

“Heya there!” he greeted and held the door open for her, so she could enter before him.

“Thanks,” MJ said and made a beeline for their usual table.

After they both sat down and ordered MJ placed her elbows on the table and put her chin in her hands, looking expectantly at Peter.

“So, tell me. What’s going on in your life lately? It’s been _ages_ since we saw each other,” she pouted, but Peter knew it was just for show, so he just rolled his eyes and said,

“Jeez, you sound almost like Aunt May. Why do people expect my life to be interesting?”

“Come on, I know for a fact that there’s at least one thing we have to talk about…” she smirked.

Peter groaned, of course Ned told her about what happened on Valentine’s Day.

“It was nothing big, I just got those insane amount of roses and a bag with chocolate, that’s it. Probably a joke or something. Ned ate the chocolate and I threw the roses away, _the end._ ” He shrugged and pretended the cup of cappuccino standing on the table in front of him needed his full attention to avoid looking at MJ and to avoid her seeing his flushed cheeks.

He still hadn’t told anyone about the whole Deadpool situation. Which was almost a miracle, given the fact that he was usually really bad at keeping secrets. It was already hard to believe he managed to keep the secret of him being Spider-Man for so long from his friends and Aunt May.

But telling them they had kissed and that it was Deadpool who had sent him the Valentine’s message, when Peter was _still_ struggling to come to terms with his feelings for the man?

Big nope.

So, he just avoided it wherever he could and hoped his problems would just miraculously solve themselves on their own. Even though he knew exactly it would not happen that easy, but he could still hope.

Now that he was thinking about it, he hadn’t seen Deadpool in a while which was kind of suspicious.

The merc had stopped trying to catch him during patrol back in January and they hadn’t talked since the warehouse incident, but usually he would hear about things Deadpool had done, either from the news or Tony would complain about it, while they were working in the lab.

But now it was already one week into March and it was ominously quiet around the red and black clad mercenary.

Not that he was complaining; on the contrary, it was kind of refreshing not having to worry what Deadpool would do next or that he would interfere again like that one evening last month.

Peter hadn’t noticed he got lost in his thoughts until MJ spoke and brought him back to reality with a startle.

“And you don’t know who send it to you?”

He felt like his cheeks even more darkened when he repeated what he’d already told Ned,

“Probably someone who has too much money and thinks it’s funny.” Then he quickly changed the topic away from him.

“But enough about me, how’re things going with you and Max?”

Now it was MJ’s turn to blush and look down, but the radiant smile was back on her face.

“It’s going really great. We understand each other, have the same opinion on so many important things and it’s just perfect. She makes feel so…complete,” the redhead said in a soft voice and Peter could basically feel the love from how MJ talked about her girlfriend.

The boy smiled back at her and in that moment he was just happy for his best friend. MJ was taking a sip from her coffee, when her phone lying on the table buzzed. Hastily, she put her cup back down and looked at the screen.

“Hey Pete, would you be mad if I’m going a bit earlier than planned? Max is asking if I wanna go with her to this new thrift shop she found. But I can tell her no if you’re not okay with that…” she quickly added and looked at him kind of contrite, like she was already sorry for even asking.

Peter’s smile deepened and he made a discarding gesture.

“Nah, it’s fine. I want to go out anyway and test the new suit Mr Stark and I finished this morning. Tell Max I said hey.”

MJ gave him a thankful grin and grabbed her bag to pull out her wallet, while Peter put his winter coat back on. The redhead paid for their coffee and together they walked out of the café, Peter holding the door for her, as always.

“Be careful out there,” MJ said as a goodbye and waved briefly before heading off in the direction where she probably was going to meet Max.

Peter put in his headphones, chose a playlist and then buried his hands in his pockets again before making his way in the opposite direction in which MJ left.

In a record time of 21 minutes, he reached his flat and couldn’t get his normal clothes off fast enough. Careful, he set the case, in which his suit was stored for the transport, on his kitchen counter and pressed on the latches to open it. The lid popped open and gave away the dark red and black Spider-Man suit.

And while he was staring at it, taking in all the small little details they had worked on for almost two months now, Peter noticed three things.

First: That suit was probably the best project he had ever accomplished so far.

Second: For whatsoever reason, his subconscious had chosen the exact same two colours Deadpool’s suit were in, too.

Third: under the bowl, where he kept his “alibi fruits” in, laid one damn rose petal.

For a few seconds, he just stared at it, everything else kind of blurred out while he focused on the red petal. How come it stayed there for almost one month without him noticing? He was so sure he caught everything when he had thrown away the roses on Valentine’s Day.

It was the yelling of someone in the flat under him, that brought him back to reality. Peter startled and shook his head to get rid of the thoughts. Then he picked up the rose petal, threw it away and finally donned on his new suit.

Just the feeling of wearing it was absolute amazing, the material clinging on his lithe form like a second skin. Peter couldn’t wait to swing around the city and try all the new options he had now.

Grabbing his phone and keys, he headed off, out of his flat and up the one flight of stairs to the door leading to the rooftop.

**Hello Peter, I see you are wearing your new suit. May I congratulate you and Mister Stark for finishing this project in such a successful way?**

Karen greeted him and Peter couldn’t help a big smile. He was so glad to have an AI like Karen in his suit.

“Thanks, Karen. Yeah, I’m really happy how it turned out,” he said and stepped to the edge of the building, letting his gaze wander over the streets under him.

**So, what is the plan for today?** Karen asked, while Peter was still busy to get used to all the new information that was blended in. He felt a bit like back then on that trip to Washington, after Ned had helped him to disable the Baby Monitor Protocol in that hotel room.

“I think, I’m just gonna go to an abandoned warehouse or so and try out all the new web shooter settings for a start,” Peter decided and pulled his mask down all the way.

**Sure thing, Peter.**

He sent out his first web and let out a loud “Woohoo!” while swinging through the city in direction of the docks.

Almost subconsciously he noticed he’s missing a certain other person in a red and black suit, but he didn’t think much more about it.

People were pointing up when he webbed over them, shouting his name and one guy yelled “Nice suit!” and gave him the thumbs up.

Peter grinned and did a double somersault mid-air. It was nice to see that the people apparently liked his new suit update.

Around 20 minutes later he arrived there and after not even 5 minutes he found an empty warehouse that was high enough for him to swing around and test different web settings.

For a while he just shot around his webs, changed to the new web fluid that hardened faster and spent almost half an hour building a penis bigger than himself in the middle of the warehouse.

“Meet Peter Parker, science major, 21 and very mature,” he chuckled to himself and then proceeded to rip his freshly built statue down again. Even with using his Spidey-strength he had some difficulties destroying the fully hardened webs, so for a normal human, with normal human strength it would be impossible to break them (like they had already tested in the Lab. Peter couldn’t suppress the grin snapping a string of web in half with two fingers while Tony struggled to break it with both his hands and finally gave up).

**Incoming call from Tony Stark, do you want to answer it?**

“Yes, please,” Peter said and landed with a somersault on one of the crossbeams and pushed his mask over his nose.

“Hey, Mr Stark, what’s up?”

“Hi, Pete. Just wanted to ask how the new suit is.”

“It’s great,” Peter answered eager and started to describe how different settings had worked out in practice and which needed probably a little further adjustment.

They talked for a bit and decided to meet the following week to work on the suit, before FRIDAY reminded Tony of an appointment he had, and they had to end the call.

Peter continued to swing around the warehouse until he noticed that it was starting to get dark outside.

“Hey Karen, what time is it?”

**It is currently 8:47PM, Eastern Standard Time.**

“Oof, better get home,” he mumbled to himself and made sure he had still enough web fluid in his web shooters before taking off into the night.

***

All the other patrols the following week went rather unspectacular, too.

After his fifth patrol without any big interferences, Peter landed on the rooftop of his building and pulled off his mask, frowning.

The full absence of the mercenary was suspicious; even though Deadpool left a mess basically almost wherever he went, at least that way Peter knew where he was and could keep an eye on him.

Now he had no idea and that was low-key stressing him out. What if he planned something dangerous for civilians?

Well, that was the official reason Peter tried to convince himself of. The truth was, deep down he was worried about the merc. But Peter would rather do literally anything else than admitting that to anyone.

What was Deadpool up to, that prevented him from showing up in public? That he was absent for this long had never happened since the two of them had met, round about one year after Peter became Spider-Man.

And it worried Peter more than he had thought it would.

He tried not to think about it much, but he caught himself secretly looking for signs of the merc, while being out on patrol.

After another week, he couldn’t stand not knowing anymore. The next time he worked in the lab with Mr Stark, he said without looking up, as casually as possible,

“Hey, uhm, Mr Stark, have you heard something from Deadpool lately?”

Tony stopped in his movements and looked over to the younger boy on the work bench opposite of him.

“Deadpool?” he asked, setting down the screwdriver he was holding and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Why are you asking?”

Peter blushed and fiddled with the web shooter in his hands.

“Just wondering. Haven’t seen him in a while. I’m afraid that he’s up to something,” he mumbled, still avoiding Tony’s eyes.

“Well, don’t worry about that, kid. Wade is on a mission with SHIELD. Will take the whole March, perhaps even longer. Lots of agents there to keep an eye on him,” Tony said, picking his tool back up and continued to adjust something on what looked like a piece of his Iron Man suit.

“Oh, okay,” Peter said quietly.

But he wasn’t sure if that answer had lessened or increased his worry about Deadpool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Have a great rest of your day/night everyone ^^
> 
> beta read by Ten Danvers

**Author's Note:**

> If you have an idea or something I should add, please let me know, I'm open for suggestions ... 
> 
> As always thanks to Ten Danvers for beta-ing, 
> 
> and Happy New Year to everyone!


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